4 Tips to Make Work From Home Life Easier

Remote working has transformed how people work. Unsurprisingly, while there are many positives to this model, there are also challenges that come along with it. Issues such as communication, health, work-life balance, and of course distractions need to be managed in order for remote work to be easiest on both employees and employers. Here are 4 tips to take into consideration on how to improve work-from-home life.

1. Find ways to communicate effectively.

Since March, employees have had to adapt to the virtual work environment, taking the good with the bad. Video meetings have replaced the conference room just as direct messaging is how you now catch up with your coworkers about the weekend. Without seeing your team every day, it’s easy to take your pre-pandemic communication levels for granted. A colleague could feel isolated unbeknownst to you, so be proactive in keeping lines of communication open and consistent. Simply setting up a weekly reminder to check-in with one another to make sure you are all on the same page is an easy way to communicate effectively with your team members. By using the right software, your employees can go into 2021 well-connected and collaborating like never before, no matter where they work.

1. Take care of your health.

When working from home, the line between home-life and work-life can become very thin. Major projects and strict deadlines can lead to long and unsustainable work schedules and ultimately less sleep. This coupled with cold and flu season is a disaster waiting to happen for your health and wellbeing. To make matters worse, work becomes a lot harder when you are battling a nasty cold or flu.

Prioritize your health this winter and beyond so that this nightmare scenario is less likely to happen to you. If you still have vacation days, take a day off so that you can relax and recuperate if you are beginning to feel run down. It might also be a good idea to have cold medicines stocked just in case. Take a few minutes to figure out what you need to replenish in your medicine cabinet. Make it easy on yourself by ordering OTC cold and flu medication online and have it delivered to your home. You’ll be glad you got ahead of the game by stocking up on cold cures and immune boosters now so that you have them when you need them.

1. Make time to relax.

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is important in preventing burnout and reducing stress. To help you reach this needed equilibrium you need to find enough time to relax and destress after the workday.

First, be sure to set a cut-off time for you to stop working (and then stick to it). Communicate this work schedule to your team so they know not to contact you once your day is over. WIthout the office creating a physical barrier between home and work, this can be more difficult to do, which is why having a “closing time” is important for you to maintain a life outside of work.

Having a post-work ritual can also help you find ways to relax. Find a hobby that helps you turn off your work brain and forget about your job responsibilities for a few hours. Change out of your work clothes, exercise, start a happy hour, read a book, or do pretty much anything to transition out of work mode. This will help you wind down after any kind of day.

1. Limit Multitasking.

Working from home has its fair share of distractions. If you are a parent or a pet owner, you often have a loved one demanding at least some of your attention. Working from your living room couch, it can be tempting to have the TV on in the background. Or if you’re really desperate for a distraction, you might even check off a couple of household chores.

As tempting as it is to try and multitask, in reality, it actually harms your overall productivity by up to 40%. By switching from one task to another, your effectiveness at completing either of them diminishes.

Limit these distractions and increase your productivity by creating a dedicated work environment. Ideally, this will be away from any pets, children, or televisions. It should be clean and comfortable, enabling you to be your most productive self.

The bottom line

Remote work will continue to be embraced by companies in the long run. As people continue to adapt to this new environment, new challenges will certainly arise. For those who are working remotely now, keeping these four tips in mind will likely make the situation a little easier.